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17 Gayoso’s Account of a Meeting with the Chickasaw King at San Fernando de las Barrancas, August 1795 Manuel Gayoso de Lemos to the Baron de Carondelet, San Fernando de las Barrancas , August 12, 1795, reservado n.° 15, enclosed with de Carondelet to Duque de la Alcudia, New Orleans, Sept. 15, 1795, n.° 60, AHN, Estado, leg. 3899, exp. 2. The text used for this translation is the transcript of the Gayoso letter in MDAH, RG 26, SPT, ledger 6, 46–73. When Ugulayacabé recently left this post, he informed me that he knew that a great number of people from the Large Village planned to have followed him here but that he was not sure if that had happened. [He said] that in case he met them on the road he would make them return home, since it was clear to him I had no gifts to give them. Two days later I received a messenger sent by Guillermo Glover with a letter for me.1 I pass a copy to Your Lordship’s hands [as an attachment] under the number one, keeping the original since [it was] written with water and powder [and] is not very legible. Because of the content of said letter, I remain completely convinced of the good faith of said Glover and that he has had the fortune of earning it completely when he requests that I treat well those who come to see me, even when I might leave him without anything. That, according to the nature of the Indian, is the greatest proof that can be given of his allegiance. With the above-mentioned messenger [there] also came a small party from Payemingo’s village led by his nephew, which seems strange, given the opposition that he (Payemingo) revealed to me in his letter. The above-mentioned nephew told him, however, that, although he believed I had nothing to give him, he should come nevertheless to see me, [and] that he was sure that even though I might have only some aguardiente I could arrange to send [it] to him one day. Despite the fact that Ugulayacabé believed that I had already distributed all the presents I had, I still found a reserve I had kept to deal with any dif¤culty that might appear. That precaution bene¤ted me greatly in this case because I could immediately offer presents not only to the messenger but also to those [of the party] of Payemingo, whom I sent back the following day with an answer for Glover. Your Lordship will see [my reply] by the copy of my letter that I include under the number two. Among those who accompanied the said messenger, one [individual] came who was wearing the great medal that was presented to the deceased King of the Chicachas.2 He showed it to me saying that it belonged to the son that he left, and it was to announce his arrival in company of the King, who was determined to make the journey, ¤nding himself much improved from the malady he suffered in his feet. The same [journey] that he spoke about [was] made easier by a very gentle horse. The following day some others arrived from Payemingo’s village, but although they reside in his jurisdiction a great part are loyal to Ugulayacabé and follow his opinion. I have not wanted to write to him because otherwise they would use up too many resources that would be needed for the gift that I had to give to the King and his retinue. During the evening of that day, the fourth of the present month, I was noti¤ed of the arrival of the King about two miles from this fort and that very early the following morning he planned to come to see me. Through the reports that Don Benjamin Fooy received, I realized that he was bringing many people with him, but it was not possible to determine exactly their number. That same night, after the-end-of-day ceremonies, repeated shots were heard in the different Indian camps, which was an extraordinary thing because among them it indicates great surprise. I immediately ordered reinforcement of the guard with other precautions that seemed opportune, and I immediately ordered Juan Fraser to investigate that reaction of those same Indians. He returned at the end of two hours informing me that the Indians at the ¤rst encampment were at ease. They believed, however, that there might not be...

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